Machine for treating hats



June 22 1926.

1,590,114 J. F. MURPHY MACHINE FOR TREATING HATS Filed Sept. 14, 1925 treat the fibres at and adjacent the surface Patented June 22, 1926.

UNITED STATES JAMES F. MURPHY, 0F IDANBUIELY CONNECTICUT.

MACHINE FOR TREATING HATS.

Application filed September 14, 1925. Serial No. 56,263.

This invention relates to an apparatus for treating soft hats particularly performing one of the steps in the process of making velour-hats, and has for an object to so of the hat that they will be softened and loosenedup during the brushing operation, so that they are pulled out in the desired mannerby the brush and lie parallel for considerable length, and give an improved surface and a greater lustre to the finished -hat. This apparatus softens the fibres on and adjacent the surface of the hat so that they are more easily disengaged from their union with one another by the brush, and thereby produce a longer fibre of protrusion With far less waste of fur by broken fibres.

It is also an object of the invention to produce a device for treating hats which will give this improved surface and finish in a much lesstime, so that with my device I am not only enabled to secure a much improved finish over the devices now generally employed, but I can finish the hats in a much shorter time, thus greatly reducing the cost of manufacture.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, I have devised devices illustrated in the accompanying drawing, similar referencecharacters beingemployed throughout the various figures to indicate corresponding elements. In this drawing,

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of one form of device for treating hats by my improved method.

Fig. 2 is a detail section showing the means of feeding steam to the interior of the hat supporting block.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of one of the steam funnels shown in Fig. 1. 1 v

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of another form of device for my improved method.

Fig. 4 is a transverse section thereof substantially on line 44: of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing a slightly different construction of device,

and

Fig. 6 is an end elevation of the device shown in Fig. 5, certain parts being broken away to more clearly show the construction.

' My improved apparatus for treating hats consists primarily in means for applying to the fibres of the hat, especially those on and adjacent the surface to be treated, a small amount of steam which softens and loosens the fibres, and brushing the hat while these fibres arestill softened and loosened by the 7 action of the steam. To secure this effect the steam is applied either at the same time the hat is being brushed, or immediately before brushing, so that the fibre is'brushed before the effect of the steam thereon has mediately before the brushing operation so that the brushing is practically coincident therewith.

In the devices shown on the drawing, that shown in Fig. 1 is for use where the brushing operation is done by hand with a hand brush, and in this device the steam may be applied to the hat externally immediately before the brushing operation or internally during the brushing operation or both. For

this purpose a suitable stand l0carries a rotatable shaft 11 driven from anysuitable source of power, such as the crossed belt 12 and the straight belt 13 leading from any suitable countershaft, not shown, to the idling pulleys 14 and 15 respectively on the shaft 11, and the usual means, not shown, for shifting these belts alternately to the fixed pulley 16 for reversing the direction of rotation of the shaft At the outer end of the shaft is the block 17 for carrying the hat 18 to be treated, this block being of such a size that the crown of the hat fits snugly over the block and is held thereby, the block forming a backing to support the hat during the brushing operation and, of course, the hat rotates with the block. Below the block is a steam funnel 19 with a flared upper end which is preferably oblong in shape, and the open end is preferably covered with a piece of burlap 20 so that as the steam comes through the burlap it is equally distributed over the surface of the hat. Steam is supplied to the funnel from a suitable source of supply, not

shown, through the pipe 21, and a valve 22 in this pipe is controlled by a foot treadle 23.

Means is also provided for feeding steam to the hat through the hat supporting block. For this purpose the shaft 11 is made hollow with a longitudinally extending passage 40, and it is internally threaded at its outer end to receive the externally threaded nipple 41 of the block 17 whereby this block is secured to the shaft. The nipple 41 is also internally threaded to receive the bushing 12 which has a bearing on the steam ,pipe 43, the pipe being turned down to give a running bearing in this bushing. The block 17 is provided with suitable small openingsx) to distribute the steam tothe hat. The pipe 43 projects outwardly from these shafts 11 in the frame and in reversed relation as shown in'Fig. 1. I

In the operation of this device the hat tobe treated is slipped over the block by which it is rotated, and by'pressing on the treadle 21 a small amount of steam may a be admitted to the funnel 19 which'passes through the burlap and rises about the rotating hat. The moisture and heat of the steam softens and loosens the fibres at and adjacent the surface of the hat which is immediately .brushedby the operator by holding the wire brush against the, surface of-the hatas it rotates, the supply of steam beingcutotf immediately prior to the brushing operation for the protection of the operator, but as no handling of the hat is required between the application of the steam and the brushing operation the brush ing is donepractically coincident with the application of the steam, so that the brushing is .done while the fibres-are still softened and loosened by the steam. Thus with this arrangement although the effect of the steam on the'fibres is very quickly dissipated the brushing may be done while the fibres are still under the influence of the steam. If it is preferred to apply the steam to the hat during or coincident with the brushing operation this may :be done by pressing on the treadle 47. This will admit steam to the block 17 through the pipe at, and this steam will issue to the hat through the openings 46. It will also be apparent that steam may be applied both to the interior and exterior of'the hat at the same time. During the treatment of the hat it must be brushed in opposite directions. Therefore, after the hat has been treated with the steam and brushed, by shifting the belts it may be rotated in'the'o'pposite direction, again treated with the steam and brushed while rotating in this direction, and so on, that is treated andbrushed while rotating in' opposite directions as often as is found desirable. By placing blocks 17 at opposite ends of the shafts, as shown two hats may be treated by different operators at-the same time, or, if it is desired not to reverse direction of rotation of the shafts, the hat may be treated while rotating in one direction on one of the blocks and then transferred to the other block, which, as it is reversed, willhave the effect of rotating the hat in the opposite direction so that operated by the belts 12 and 13 in the same manner as the hat supporting blocks in the first form. Mounted adjacent thepe'riphje'r y of the brush and extending transverselyv thereof is a tubular support 26 for the hat 27. This'support is provided with lateral openings 28, preferably'directed toward the brush, the free ends of the support-being closed, and I the support is connected by means of'a pipe29 to any suitable source of steam not shown. The supply of steam to this support is controlled by a valve- 30 through atreadle 31. It is to be noted that there are two brushes mounted on the shaft at the opposite sides of the stand, andthat thesupports 26 are arranged in reversed relation so that the free endthereof is-arranged'at the left side'of the right hand brush, and the free end of the other support is arranged at the right hand side'of the left hand brush, as viewed in Fig-3. In operation the hat 27 is slipped between the support andbrush as shown in Fig, 4,

the support holdingthe surface of thehat against the surface of the-brush. As'the brush rotates itfrotates thehat on the support, the speed of rotation of the hat being controlled more or less by theuoperator as he holds the hat on thesupport. Asithe hat is being brushed'the fibres are softene'gi. and loosened by the application of a small amount of steam through the :openin'gs28;

In this for-m the steam may be applied during the brushingoperation, and by sliding the hat in or out on the support practically the entire outer surface may be brushed The rotation of the brushes may be reversed to give the brushing effect in opposite directions, or the brushes may be rotated continuously in the samedirection and after-it is brushed on the right hand brush'it may be brushed in the opposite direction by transferring it'to the left hand brush,- a'nd as the support for this brush is reversed from that of the first brush it will be obvious the hat will be brushed in the opposite direction. It 'ispreferred to enclose the brushes ina hood- 32 and connect this hood with an exhaust fan 33 so as to remove the fibres which are torn'from the hat during the brushing operation, this fan discharging into a. suitable'collecting boxer bag, not shown, forsalvaging the furor fibre removed. V

' In Figs. 5 and 6 is shown a device which operates substantially the same as that shown in Figs. 3 and 4, except that-it is used mostly for brushing the brims of the hats. In this form the hat support comprises a small hollow block 84 having a curved surface toward the brush which is provided with discharge openings 35. Steam is supplied to this support through a. pipe 36 controlled by the valve 37, the same as in the other form, and the pipe 36 is connected to the back of the support. By this arrangement the brim of the hat may be brushed in opposite directions without reversing the brush by simply inserting the brim from one side of the support and brushing it and then removing it and inserting it from the other side of the support,

which will brush it in the opposite direction. In this form, as in the forms shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 4, the steam may be applied during the brushing operation.

I have found that although brushes having steel wires extending radially of the brush give a satisfactory result, still I prefer that thewires 38 should be bent intermediate their ends so that the outer portion 39 will be inclined in the direction of rotation of the brush as shown in Figs. 4 and 6. Thus the wires at the time of engaging the hat surface, instead of being normal to the surface, are inclined thereto at an acute angle, and I have found that with this arrangement the wires pass more readily through the fibres and lay them out properly with a less tearing and breaking of the fibres than when they are normal to the surface of the hat.

It is to be noted that as the hat is brushed by the periphery of the brush, this brush rotates about an axis extending in the general or same direction as the immediate surface of the hat being brushed. This surface is a small rectangular portion of the hat surface in direct contact with the brush and has a length substantially equal to the width of the brush. Thus the fibres of the nap are laid out by the brush in substantially parallel relation.

With my improved device not only do I secure a much improved surface and finish on the hat, but I can secure this finish much more rapidly or in less time so that it is obtained at much less cost. The application of a small amount of steam tothe fibres of the hat during the brushing operation, or such a short time before the brushing operation that the fibres are still under the influence of the steam, softens and loosens the fibres so that they will more easily disengage from their union with one another under the action of the brush. The brush, therefore, passes more easily through and between the fibres laying them out in the required parallel relation to give a lon er fibre of protrusion with far less waste of fur by tearing or breaking of the fibres by the brush than where they are brushed dry.

When the hat surface is brushed dry it is merely the surface fibres which are brushed up, and the brush does not get into the fibres and pull them up to give the required length of free fibre as it does when the steam is applied, as in the above described method. The heat and moisture of the steam softens and loosens up the fibres so that one end is pulled out by the brush and they lie para-llel for some length. They are then blown up by a suitable air blast and clipped to the proper length by clippers. It has been found in practice that this treatment gives a very beautiful soft finish which has much more lustre than is secured where the hats are brushed dry.

Having thus set forththe nature of my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a device for treating hats, a rotating brush, a hat support adjacent the periphery of said brush, said brush being mounted to rotate about an axis extending in the general direction of the surface being brushed whereby the fibres of the nap are laid out in substantially parallel relation, and means for supplying steam to the hat while on said support.

2. In a device for treating hats, a rotating wire brush, a hollow hat support adjacent said brush provided with discharge openings, and means for supplying steam to said support.

3. In a device for treating hats, a rotating wire brush, a hat support extending transversely of the periphery of the brush and adjacent thereto, said support being provided with discharge openings directed toward the brush, and means for supplying steam to said support for discharge through said openings.

4. In a device for treating hats, a rotatable wire brush having wires bent intermediate their lengths to cause the outer portion thereof to incline in the direction of rotation a hollow hat support adjacent the periphery of said brush provided with discharge openings, and means for supplying steam to said support.

5. In a device for treating hats, a rotatable wire brush having the outer portions of the wires inclinedin the direction of rotation, and a hat support adjacent the periphery of said brush, said support being pro vided with means for applying steam tothe hat during the brushing operation. 7

6. In a device for treating hats, a rotatable wire brush mounted to rotate about an axis extending in substantiallythe same direction as the surface being brushed, a hat support adjacent the periphery of said brush, and means for supplying steam to the hat during the brushing operation.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

JAMES F. MURPHY. 

